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App developers are hot for Kindle Fire

By 1105 Media Staff

Nov 16, 2011

Amazon's just-released Kindle Fire has already become the most popular Android tablet among app developers in North America, while among phone platforms, Windows Phone 7 took a clear lead over BlackBerry, according to a survey conducted by IDC and Appcelerator.

Of 2,160 Appcelerator Titanium developers surveyed in October, almost half (49 percent) were very interested in the Kindle Fire, Amazon's new media tablet that began shipping Nov. 15. This result was only three points down from the iPad's interest level right before its launch (the iPad is currently in first place according to U.S. respondents). The survey found that developer interest in Amazon's tablet was a point higher than developer interest in Samsung's Galaxy Tab.

Now that its on the streets, the Fire is likely to draw even more interest among developers, since Amazon has also released the source code for the tablet.

"Amazon has shown exceptional early success in appealing to developers with the Kindle Fire showing that price and differentiation are keys to competing in the crowded Android tablet space, rather than simply chasing the iPad market," said Ellison.

Meanwhile, 38 percent of developers responded that they were "very interested" in the Windows Phone 7 mobile OS. This finding represents an increase of 8 points compared with the response in the last survey conducted in June, and reflected Windows Phone 7's gains in the mobile OS competition, according to IDC analysis.

"The third major mobile OS after iOS and Android is now clearly Windows, driven largely by the Microsoft/Nokia partnership and underscored by the new Nokia Lumia 800," said Scott Ellison, vice president, Mobile & Connected Consumer Platforms at IDC, in a released statement.

The recent partnership between Nokia and Microsoft was the top reason given for the growing level of interest by respondents located in Europe and Asia. In North America, respondents cited the upcoming integration with Windows 8 as the No. 1 reason for the interest.

This difference in reasoning could be due to the fact that Nokia's Windows Phone 7 line will be premiering overseas first, with a U.S. release still unannounced.

Developer interest in Microsoft's Windows Phone platform helped to pull it ahead of the BlackBerry OS platform, which has been on a steep decline, per the survey. The survey showed that 21 percent of respondents were "very interested" in Research in Motion's mobile OS platform. This result was down from its all-time high in 2010 of 42 percent.